Berlin, Nov. 11 (BNA): Karolina Pliskova continued her dominance over Garbine Muguruza with an epic three-set victory in the WTA Finals.
Pliskova outpaced former world number one Muguruza 4-6 6-2 7-6 (8-6) as the WTA Finals kicked off in Guadalajara on Wednesday.
Hosted the first WTA Finals in Latin America, third seed Pliskova won the third-set tiebreak to claim her ninth victory over Grand Slam champion Muguruza – her best professional record against a competitor on the tour, dpa reported. a).
After a slow start, sixth seed and Spanish superstar Muguruza finished off strong to capture the opening set of the Group Teotihuacan competition under the Guadalajara lights in the middle of the week.
Pliskova – the most experienced player in the field with her fourth consecutive appearance in the finals – raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set and it was an advantage she never gave up.
The pair went from toe to toe in the final set as the tiebreak loomed after Muguruza saved two match points in the 10th inning.
However, Pliskova was not denied as Muguruza lost the third set in a hard-court tiebreak for the first time since January 2014.
Earlier, Anett Kontaveit continued her impressive form as she made a successful start to the WTA Finals against Barbora Krejcikova.
The Estonian was barely in contention for year-ending championships during the first half of the season, but after losing its fifth straight game on 17 August, it racked up 26 wins out of 28, capturing four titles and breaking into the top ten for the first time.
Her confidence levels were still high when she began her campaign in Guadalajara, where French Open champion Krejcikova won 6-3, 6-4 to secure her 38th hardcourt win of the season.
Like Kontaveit, Krejcikova – the only 2021 Grand Slam singles winner at this year’s finals – was making her debut at the event, but she started in ominous fashion as she dropped her serve in the fourth game after winning just one point over Kontaveit’s serve in the opening two return games.
Kontaveit’s powerful serve and groundstroke helped her lead comfortably into the first set, which she took the second time when she called for an ace.
Krejcikova was broken again at the start of the second set. Her only chance of leveling was, when she put her superb shot 30-0 on Kontaveit’s serve, which was snuffed out before she could scoop a break point.
Since then, Kontaveit has battled the competition in fists, notching its 11th win in a row when Krejcikova curled a backhand into the net.